Wednesday, April 27, 2016

May 2016 New Mystery Releases!

Lots of trips to the Desert Botanical Garden. Trips to my local Michael's to fondle yarn. Lunches with authors and friends. Sitting outside to soak up a little sun. The usual appointments and errands. Lots of knitting. Long phone conversations with faraway friends. Cooking. Cleaning. Laundry. Blogging. Have I had time to read?

You betcha!

I've also had time to choose what I think will be the cream of the crop when it comes to new mysteries being released in May.

They're grouped by release date, and I've included all the information you'll need to find your own copies. Book synopses are courtesy of Amazon.

I hope I've found some titles to add to your wish lists and shelves. Happy Reading!

Series: #8 in the Dr. Ruth Galloway and DCI Harry Nelson series set in Norfolk, England

ISBN: 9780544417854

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Hardcover, 368 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

Synopsis: "Known as England’s Nazareth, the medieval town of Little Walsingham is
famous for religious apparitions. So when Ruth Galloway’s druid friend
Cathbad sees a woman in a white dress and a dark blue cloak standing
alone in the local cemetery one night, he takes her as a vision of the
Virgin Mary. But then a woman wrapped in blue cloth is found dead the
next day, and Ruth’s old friend Hilary, an Anglican priest, receives a
series of hateful, threatening letters. Could these crimes be connected?
When one of Hilary’s fellow female priests is murdered just before
Little Walsingham’s annual Good Friday Passion Play, Ruth, Cathbad, and
DCI Harry Nelson must team up to find the killer before he strikes
again."

Synopsis: "When antique dealer Kat Stanford stumbles
upon the partially mummified body of a young woman in an abandoned wing
at Honeychurch Hall, suspicion falls on those who had been living there
many years ago. And it appears that the deceased had been murdered.
Given her mother Iris’s checkered past, Kat is not surprised to learn
that Iris knew the victim.

Meanwhile, the unexpected appearance of
former lothario Bryan Laney sets female hearts aflutter. Despite the
passing years, time has not dampened his ardor for Iris, but the feeling
is not reciprocated.

With stories of hidden treasure and secret
chambers, past and present collide. As Kat becomes embroiled once more
in her mother’s mysterious and tumultuous bygone days, she comes to
realize that life is never black and white, and sometimes it is
necessary to risk your own life to protect the lives of the ones you
love."

Synopsis: "Luisa “Lu” Brant is the newly elected—and first female—state’s
attorney of Howard County, Maryland, a job in which her widower father
famously served. Fiercely intelligent and ambitious, she sees an
opportunity to make her name by trying a mentally disturbed drifter
accused of beating a woman to death in her home. It’s not the kind of
case that makes headlines, but peaceful Howard county doesn’t see many
homicides.

As Lu prepares for the trial, the case dredges up
painful memories, reminding her small but tight-knit family of the night
when her brother, AJ, saved his best friend at the cost of another
man’s life. Only eighteen, AJ was cleared by a grand jury. Now, Lu
wonders if the events of 1980 happened as she remembers them. What
details might have been withheld from her when she was a child?

The
more she learns about the case, the more questions arise. What does it
mean to be a man or woman of one’s times? Why do we ask our heroes of
the past to conform to the present’s standards? Is that fair? Is it
right? Propelled into the past, she discovers that the legal system, the
bedrock of her entire life, does not have all the answers. Lu realizes
that even if she could learn the whole truth, she probably wouldn’t want
to."

Series: #11 in the Appalachian Ballad series set in Tennessee and North Carolina

ISBN: 9781476772813

Publisher: Atria Books

Hardcover, 352 pages

Synopsis: "Years later, after the tragedy, someone remembered the Dumb Supper
and what had happened there. That was the cause of it, they said,
because the ritual wasn’t a game after all. It really was magic, but
magic has rules, and she broke them.

Suddenly thrust into
the role of primary caretaker for her family following the tragic death
of her husband, Ellie Robbins is appointed to serve out his term as
sheriff of their rural Tennessee mountain town. The year is 1936, and
her role is largely symbolic, except for the one task that only a
sheriff can do: execute a convicted prisoner.

Ellie has long
proven she can handle herself. But becoming sheriff is altogether
different, and the demands of the role are even more challenging when
she is forced to combat society’s expectations for a woman. Soon enough,
dark secrets come to light, and Ellie must grapple with small town
superstitions and the tenuous ties she shares with a condemned killer as
she carves out a place for herself in an uncertain future.

“There is no one quite like Sharyn McCrumb. No one better either” (San Diego Union-Tribune), and her luscious narrative brings her unforgettable characters to life with the “pure poetry” (The New York Times Book Review) that defines her astounding novels. Prayers the Devil Answers combines masterful historical research and captivating folklore to make an atmospheric and suspenseful tour de force."

Series: #2 in the Marjorie Trumaine historical series set in 1960s North Dakota

ISBN: 9781633881266

Publisher: Seventh Street Books

Paperback, 270 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

Synopsis: "October 1964—Just months after freelance indexer Marjorie Trumaine
helped solve a series of murders in Dickinson, North Dakota, she is
faced with another death that pulls her into an unwanted investigation.
Calla Eltmore, the local librarian, is found dead at work and everyone
considers it suicide. But Marjorie can't believe that Calla would be
capable of doing such a thing.

Marjorie's suspicions are
further aroused when she notices something amiss at Calla's wake, but
the police seem uninterested in her observations.

Despite
pressing job commitments and the burden of caring for a husband in
declining health, Marjorie sets out to uncover the truth. What she finds
is a labyrinth of secrets—and threats from someone who will kill to
keep these secrets hidden."

Historical Fiction (with a lot of secrets) standalone set in a Mississippi River town in Illinois in the 1870s

ISBN: 9781616956721

Publisher: Soho Press

Hardcover, 368 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

Synopsis: "Reliance, Illinois tells the story of a young woman faced with
choices that will alter the course of her own future, and offers a
brilliant window into American life during a period of tumultuous
change. Illinois, 1874: With a birthmark covering half her face,
thirteen-year-old Madelyn Branch is accustomed to cold and awkward
greetings, and expects no less in the struggling town of Reliance. After
all, her mother, Rebecca, was careful not to mention a daughter in the Matrimonial Times
ad that brought them there. When Rebecca weds, Madelyn poses as her
mother’s younger sister and earns a grudging berth in her new house.
Deeply injured by her mother’s deceptions, Madelyn soon leaves to enter
the service of Miss Rose Werner, prodigal daughter of the town’s
founder. Miss Rose is a suffragette and purveyor of black market birth
control who sees in Madelyn a project and potential acolyte. Madelyn,
though, wants to feel beautiful and loved, and she pins her hopes on
William Stark, a young photographer and haunted Civil War veteran."

Synopsis: "Anna Pigeon, in her career as a National Park Service Ranger, has had
to deal with all manner of crimes and misdemeanors, but cyber-bullying
and stalking is a new one. The target is Elizabeth, the adopted teenage
daughter of her friend Heath Jarrod. Elizabeth is driven to despair by
the disgusting rumors spreading online and bullying texts. Until, one
day, Heath finds her daughter Elizabeth in the midst of an unsuccessful
suicide attempt. And then she calls in the cavalry---her aunt Gwen and
her friend Anna Pigeon.

While they try to deal with the fragile
state of affairs---and find the person behind the harassment---the three
adults decide the best thing to do is to remove Elizabeth from the
situation. Since Anna is about to start her new post as Acting Chief
Ranger at Acadia National Park in Maine, the three will join her and
stay at a house on the cliff of a small island near the park, Boar
Island.

But the move east doesn't solve the problem. The stalker
has followed them east. And Heath (a paraplegic) and Elizabeth aren't
alone on the otherwise deserted island. At the same time, Anna has
barely arrived at Acadia before a brutal murder is committed by a killer
uncomfortably close to her."

Synopsis: "Nicolaos, the only private investigator in ancient Athens, discovers
that helping an author with his book research can be very dangerous. The
would-be author Herodotus has hired Nico and his priestess wife,
Diotima, to accompany him to Egypt to research that ancient country’s
history. Unfortunately, Egypt happens to be in the throes of a rebellion
against its overlords, the Persian Empire. Pirates infest the sea
route. Three different armies roam the Egyptian countryside. The river
is full of crocodiles. Everywhere Nico turns, there’s a secret agent
ready to kill him, and he can’t find a decent cup of wine anywhere. A
simple historical investigation turns into a dangerous adventure of
international espionage."

Series: #5 in the historical Murder Squad series set in London, England

ISBN: 9780399176104

Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons

Hardcover, 384 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books

Synopsis: "Many changes have happened to the Murder Squad. Rash actions have cost
Sergeant Nevil Hammersmith his job, and in response he has set up his
own private detective agency. Inspector Walter Day has been missing for a
year, and no one knows where he is—though there is a strong suspicion
that Saucy Jack has him. Hammersmith has made finding Day his primary
case, and he has company—a pair of bounty hunters, a man and a woman. It
is only gradually that he has come to realize that they are not what
they seem . ."

Synopsis: "When Wyoming highway patrolman Rosey Wayman is transferred to the
beautiful and imposing landscape of the Wind River Canyon, an area the
troopers refer to as no-man's-land because of the lack of radio
communication, she starts receiving “officer needs assistance” calls.
The problem? They're coming from Bobby Womack, a legendary Arapaho
patrolman who met a fiery death in the canyon almost a half-century ago.
With an investigation that spans this world and the next, Sheriff Walt
Longmire and Henry Standing Bear take on a case that pits them against a
legend: The Highwayman."

=== May 19 ===

Title: The Malice of Waves

Author: Mark Douglas-Home

Series: #3 in the Sea Detective series set in Scotland

ISBN: 9780718182755

Publisher: Michael Joseph

Hardcover, 304 pages

UK Release

Synopsis: "Five years ago, fourteen-year-old Max Wheeler disappeared from
Priest's Island, an isolated but bleakly beautiful place on the edge of
the Atlantic Ocean.

In the closeknit local community, there
are no secrets, except what happened to Max. None of the police or
private investigations since have shed any light on what happened the
night he went missing, presumed dead.

But there is one man who is yet to take on the case: The Sea Detective.

Cal
McGill is an oceanographer and unique investigator who uses his
knowledge of tides, winds and currents to solve mysteries no-one else
can.

However, Cal is an unwelcome stranger who must navigate the
tensions between Max's inconsolable father, the broken family he has
neglected, and the embittered locals, resentful after years of
suspicion.

As Cal arrives, a violent storm approaches, threatening to completely cut off the island, with a possible murderer at large.."

May is a feast! Craig Johnson. Nevada Barr. Elly Griffiths. And on. And on. And on. Wow!

Oh, some good 'uns, here, Cathy! I've already got the Dennison to read, and the Craig (no surprise), the Barr, the Griffiths and the Douglas-Home got my attention right away. I think it's going to be hard on the TBR...

I have the Griffiths and Dennison pre-ordered. I have to read the 2nd book in the Douglas-Home book first but am happy to see that a third book has come out.

The Singer from Memphis has me thinking about the title. At first it catches your eye, due to Elvis. It is a historical Athenian I wonder where the Memphis comes in. I am wondering if there is an ancient city called Memphis. I just googled it and yes it is an ancient city and capital in Egypt. It is a catchy title.

I hope to find this list again so I'll just scroll backwards to find it. Is there a better way?

Since this blog discusses book covers, I'll say that Gary Corby's books' covers are always good, interesting. And I think The Malice of Waves should have a cover more like the Nevada Barr cover with menacing waves, not calm ones, or huge ocean waves.

Scroll down my sidebar until you see "Looking for Something?" Click on the down arrow to bring up the drop down menu. Scroll till you get to "New Mystery Releases" and click on it. They'll come up with the most recent post shown first.

I love Corby's book covers. They're always great. Colorful and extremely evocative of the time period about which he writes.

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About Me

Hi! I'm addicted to books (especially crime fiction), laughter and traveling off the beaten path. In my free time, when my eyes aren't glued to the printed page, one of them is usually pressed against the viewfinder of my camera. Let's see... books, laughter, travel, photography. Anything else? Oh yeah-- my dream house wouldn't have a kitchen!